ABOUT US...

Nowadays, the whole spiritual dimension of a nation can be simply reduced to two opposing concepts: globalization and identity. The physical environment of this gathering (boat show) is a direct representation of this state of mind. On the one hand, sophisticated vessels and technologies, on the other, timid attempts to do, or at least say, something about the need to build your own specific self-image with individual peculiarities. This is the case of Croatia, which in spite of its vast maritime heritage doesn’t really live in harmony with its sea.

With globalization and identity in mind, 8 years ago we launched a lateen sails regatta. The idea was to mobilize the last of sailors, but also to draw the attention of the uninformed to a world where a specific tradition of shipbuilding and sailing was created, developed and shaped. The regatta later grew into a project, ambitious in its objectives and modest in their realization, which can for this purpose be described as follows:

Projekt The Lateen sails project is an emotional departure from everything that modern and sophisticated sails in our ports remind us of today, a genuine step back towards heritage and all that we were and have never ceased to be in our hearts - all the while respecting the benefits of modern sailing. This sail is a continuous timeless bond between Murter and Betina people and the large community of Mediterranean peoples, making them part of a great maritime tradition which they have never given up - despite all the changes on the Croatian Adriatic coast. And hopefully they never will.

Lateen sail is, therefore, neither a boat nor a sail, neither a regatta nor a tourist festival... Lateen sail is a reminder of a way of life, an exceptional place, a spiritual dimension and its existence. Lateen sail is a synthesis of all the activities and practices, knowledge and crafts, maritime skills and trials, a state of mind and belief, as well as everything else that imbued these marvelous waters. And at the center of it all there was the boat. At this unusual point of the Adriatic, nothing was possible without the boat and its sails. Just like the book of Genesis: everything was boat and all came to be in its image. We are it. Lateen sails - it is us.